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Chapter 463: Fate is Returning
Chapter 463: Fate is Returning
Yan Madam suddenly gripped Meng Qianqian's hand, her eyes filled with seriousness and sharpness, "You've always been confident about entering the palace, was this your doing?"
Meng Qianqian's expression froze, "What if it was?"
Yan Madam spoke coldly, "You even used an innocent child? Don't you fear the irreversible consequences? You're a mother yourself, how can you bear to hurt a child?"
Meng Qianqian let out an 'oh', and smiled faintly, "So Elder Yan understands that children are innocent. Back then, how many children in the Shang family were the same age as Nie Xiaogongzi? Why didn't Elder Yan think they were innocent then? Are other children's lives worth more than the lives of my family's children? I watched as Xiao Qi was pierced through the chest in front of me, his blood still steaming. He lay on the ground, his weak body twitching. I seemed to hear him say, 'It hurts so much... Xiao Qi is in so much pain...'"
Her tone was calm, as if she were describing a non-existent past.
But Elder Yan clearly felt an intense hatred and sorrow beneath her calm expression.
Elder Yan's breath caught.
Meng Qianqian pried her hand away and said lightly, "Anyone can call me cruel, but you, Master Yan, are not qualified to do so."
Elder Yan stiffened in her place.
Meng Qianqian took out a silver needle and placed it on the table, "Please move aside, Master, you're blocking the light."
Elder Yan actually moved to the side.
The blazing sunlight fell on her shoulder, as well as her calm eyebrows, and her ethereal purple veil.
Elder Yan had a moment of daze, unable to distinguish if the person treating the child was Meng Qianqian or the senior sister who had taken care of her.
"Senior Sister..."
She murmured, her eyes involuntarily turning red.
Meng Qianqian heard her voice, her gaze flickered, but she didn't look at her. Instead, she focused on treating the unconscious Nie Xiaogongzi with needles.
Human hearts are always complex.
Elder Yan, are you atoning for your past actions?
Then atone well.
Atone endlessly, and watch as I take revenge on all of you.
After such a major incident, the princes who were supposed to attend to the Empress's illness one by one visited Huifei's palace to see Nie Xiaogongzi.
The Liang Emperor, in the early days of his reign, had less strict palace rules than the Great Zhou Imperial Palace. Moreover, the consorts were of advanced age and didn't need to avoid such matters.
In the side hall, the Emperor and Empress sat in the main seats.
Hu Guifei and Jiang Huifei sat on either side.
Hu Guifei's face was swollen from being slapped by Jiang Huifei, and a palace maid was applying medicine for her.
Prince Jin and the Fifth Prince, Prince Fu, sat beside their respective consorts, glaring at each other.
Prince Rui and Prince Qi sat in the same row as Prince Jin.
The princes' alliances were already apparent.
Lu Zhaoyan and Lu Yuan didn't get involved and sat in the courtyard, holding the little one under the pretext of soaking up the sun.
Yu Fei, sensing the tension, came to comfort Jiang Huifei. As she passed by the father and son, she secretly signaled Lu Zhaoyan: Are you still acting?
Lu Zhaoyan cleared his throat and made a gesture to stop the act.
Yu Fei: I'm not taking back my favor.
Lu Zhaoyan: I was just scammed out of 5,000 taels by a rebellious son this morning, and now I owe a favor to Yu Fei. Where can I go to seek justice?
The Liang Emperor had already sent people to investigate the matter.
Jiang Huifei had brought her little grandnephew into the palace to stay for a while. Since she didn't have a grandson of her own, she showered all her love on her grandnephew.
But this morning, when the little grandnephew went to play in the Imperial Garden, he was pounced on by Hu Guifei's white cat, leaving three bloody scratches on his hand.
This wasn't the first time Hu Guifei's cat had attacked someone. When it was just a few months old, it had bitten Lu Panting, the granddaughter of Hu Guifei, who was also the daughter of Prince Jin and Princess Jin.
After several years, the little white cat had grown old, but its habit of scratching and biting people hadn't changed at all.
In the past, it had only scratched palace maids and eunuchs, but today it had offended Jiang Huifei, who wouldn't tolerate it.
After Hu Guifei finished applying medicine, she pouted and said to the Liang Emperor, "Your Majesty, you must stand up for me—"
Jiang Huifei angrily asked, "Stand up for what?
"If anything happens to Nie'er, I'll make you pay with your life!"
Hu Guifei's body trembled, her eyes welling up with tears. "Brother-in-law..."
Jiang Huifei stood up abruptly and pointed at her, "Shut your mouth!"
Hu Guifei spoke angrily, "Jiang Huifei, why are you being so aggressive?"
Jiang Huifei scolded, "What's wrong with being aggressive? I even want to kill you! Others may fear you, but I don't! Confess truthfully, did Nie'er stumble upon some secret of yours that you want to silence her?"
Hu Guifei was dumbfounded, "What nonsense are you talking about? Who has secrets and who wants to silence whom? It wasn't intentional! It must have been your great-grandson who scared it! It's a well-behaved cat!"
Jixiang was the name of the white cat.
Jiang Huifei scoffed, "Well-behaved? Everyone in the palace knows of its notorious reputation."
Hu Guifei was speechless.
Jiang Huifei glared coldly at Gongsun Liuying, who was standing by, waiting for her punishment. "I won't say anything about the little beast biting people, but what about your granddaughter-in-law nearly killing my Nie'er with a needle?"
Hu Guifei was left speechless.
After a moment, she retorted angrily, "Who knows if the child was already sick?"
"Who are you saying is sick?"
Jiang Huifei gave Hu Guifei a hard slap on the cheek.
Seeing this, Hu Guifei grabbed the teacup from the table and was about to hurl it at Jiang Huifei.
Prince Jin and Prince Fu quickly embraced their respective mothers.
The chaos in the hall was unprecedented.
In the courtyard, Lu Yuan watched as the two sides dared to fight openly in front of the Liang Emperor. He couldn't help but click his tongue, "With this, Hu Guifei has jumped into the Yellow River and can't wash herself clean."
If Hu Guifei insisted that it was an accident, she would have to admit that Gongsun Liuying's medical skills were lacking.
If Gongsun Liuying wanted to preserve her reputation as the best in the world, the only way was to shift the blame to Hu Guifei, saying that she was acting under her orders.
Now, the interests of both parties were in conflict.
It wasn't Lu Yuan's intention for the child to get injured; no matter how many years he had been a treacherous minister, he would never think of using a child as a pawn.
However, it had to be said that this accident was too perfect and timely, ten or even a hundred times better than Yufi's Tortured Flesh Strategy.
Lu Zhaoyan's thoughts were similar to his son's. He hoped that Nie'er would be safe, but now that the incident had occurred, he felt that it was fate, as if even heaven was helping them.
Thinking of something, he looked at the sleeping Baozhu in his arms and asked, "Are you sure your daughter-in-law can cure Nie'er?"
Lu Yuan's expression turned serious, "Who told you it was your daughter-in-law?"
Lu Zhaoyan showed no mercy to his son, "You've been acting like a lovesick fool in front of that door all morning."
Lu Yuan: "...You don't want to be a father at all."
As Jiang Huifei and Hu Guifei's argument escalated, Yan Madam returned with news.
"How is Nie'er?"
The Liang Emperor asked solemnly.
Yan Madam bowed, "As commanded, the young master has been saved."
"Nie'er..."
Jiang Huifei immediately rushed out of the door.
Hu Guifei also heaved a sigh of relief.
Jiang Huifei was like a madwoman; if Nie'er had truly died, she would have fought to the death with her.
The Empress's expression relaxed, "Wonderful! Nie'er is fine. Yan Elder is indeed worthy of being the 27th generation successor of the Thirteen Ghost Gates Needles. Come, I want to reward Yan Elder generously."
Yan Madam turned to the Liang Emperor and Empress, "The one who treated the young master was not me, but my disciple."
Gongsun Liuying's expression changed.
The Empress was surprised, "Oh?"
The Liang Emperor asked, "What is your disciple's name?"
Yan Madam replied, "Yan Xiao Jiu."
The Liang Emperor gave Eunuch Yu a look.
Eunuch Yu raised his dustpan, "Announcing, Yan Xiao Jiu, present yourself for the audience."
Meng Qianqian donned her veil and, led by the palace attendants, entered the side hall with grace and composure.
The originally cloudless sky suddenly welcomed rolling thunderclouds.
As she passed by Gongsun Liuying, a flash of lightning and thunder rumbled above everyone's heads, as if the unchanging firmament had finally cracked open.
Wow!
(End of Chapter)
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